Change of Plans

Last week was a complete mess. That's why I haven't blogged. I didn't even want to talk about it. While driving to Ohio we got a phone call from the bank telling us that something wasn't yet completed so we wouldn't be closing on Tuesday, or Wednesday, and hopefully we would close by Friday. Tuesday I woke up with a sharp pain in my back and knew right away that it was kidney stones. We went to the house and walked through it with the sellers. It was good to walkthrough and hear about the house from people that know it so well. We had to leave early because I couldn't take it anymore, the pain was just too much. I tried to just stay at J's parent's house but I couldn't. I couldn't keep anything down so J took me to the hospital and we spent the remainder of the day there. It was miserable.

Wednesday the bank called to say that they had the appraisal all set, and that we should have an ok from the underwriter in 24 hours. Thursday we waited patiently, and didn't hear anything. I sent an e-mail from J's account demanding to hear something. It worked. They put a hold on our account, for a reason that we should have been made aware of a month ago. It made me so angry, it was so awful. Friday I got to go back and take pictures of the house. I put them up online and will post the link later.

Saturday we drove back home and Sunday we prepared for the week. It was so tough to get up Monday morning. I had butterflies, not knowing what the week would bring or how the kids would be. The week has been ok, I feel like I haven't done anything and I wish the week was over.

We have a conference this weekend. Circle K is celebrating its 50th anniversary. J should be there and I should probably go too. I don't mind going, but I'm not as excited as I used to get about conventions.

I'm so drained after all the issues with this house...I just want to be there. I just want to put my house together. I just want to know where I will be working in 6 months. Everyone keeps saying that things will work out ok, and I hope they are right!

1 Day...

Huge snowstorm hit Boston yesterday...oh wait, no it didn't! School dismissed at 11 because we wanted everyone to make it home safely. Turns out they could have dismissed at 6, and we still would have made it home safely. No delay this morning, which was sad, but one bus was late, cutting 20 minutes out of my first period class. One day stands between me and winter vacation and I want it now!

The upcoming week is going to be very busy. Saturday J and I leave to visit my family in CT. We are stopping at the mall to meet up with my MOH (so excited, haven't seen her since...June?) and then going to spend the weekend at my aunt's house (they have a guest room). Valentine's Day we are going out to eat, which will be nice. Our Valentine present is sitting in the parking lot- so what if we got it a few weeks early? Monday we leave CT and travel to OH. Tuesday (as long as everything goes as planned) we have our final walkthrough and close on the house. I am very excited. I feel like it is home already, and I can't wait to blow up an air mattress and sleep in my very own house! The realtor took down the listing from their website, so the pictures that I had are gone. I have to take more, don't worry, I've charged my camera and I am ready! Hopefully we will get to see Peyton at some point while we are in Ohio too.

I have my students for the last two periods today. We are doing a web scavenger hunt and then reading Lord of The Flies...who remembers that book from Ms. S-V's class?? I still tend to lead toward favoring Ralph as a leader, but I try to have an open mind when presenting it to my students. Hopefully the kids do well today, someone is coming to observe (not me, the class) and I just want them to raise their hands!

1 Week

I posted last week around this time, and here I am again. I'm watching the Super Bowl, pigging out on food that is NOT on my "get healthy and look good in my wedding dress" plan. A friend came over to watch the Super Bowl with us, so that's cool. Oh that's right- I am the only one that is actually watching the game because I'm the only one in the house that likes football.

I am so anxious about this week. I want it to be over and it never even started. This is the last week of school before February break. This is the last week of my life being a renter. This is such a huge time in my life and I am so excited! We had presentations due last week at work, I did mine so this Wednesday when everyone else has to present I am off the hook. The administrative work that I was supposed to do last weekend didn't get done until yesterday, but I have almost everything ready to be mailed tomorrow.

I still love my car. It's great. The gas tank is bigger than on my old car, and the mileage isn't quite as good, but I don't even think about it because it is so great!

I hope the Colts win the Super Bowl...but I am going to enjoy tonight regardless of the outcome.

Everything is Changing!

This weekend is almost over and I am not ready to go back to work tomorrow. I have a bunch of administrative work to do before school tomorrow and I really would rather blog! Thursday morning I tried to drive to work and my car started billowing smoke. I was pretty close to home so I turned around and parked in front of my house. That is where the car has sat since then. RIP Alero : ( We spent the day Thursday at the car dealership, and with J's name on the home loan and the closing date later this month he couldn't put his name on the car loan, so the car loan is in my name! We bought a 2010 Ford Escape XLT. It is the car I always dreamed, but never actually believed, I would have. I love it. I park it in the driveway and drive any chance I get- it's great1111

Because of the mortgage payments and the car payments we are pretty tightly budgeted out for the next few months. This means less eating out and more eating in. Friday night I made baked potato soup, recipe from a friend of mine, and it was excellent. Saturday I made chicken pot pie and tonight I made beef stroganoff. Tomorrow we are going to go for a leftover/potato soup combination when J gets home from class. I like making food, cooking is fun!

Saturday I went shopping at the outlets with two of my bridesmaids and a friend from college. It was good to get out and see the girls. I found a great pair of jeans and bought some grapefruit spoons. So good to see my friends, and made me so much more excited about the wedding and how much fun it will be!

Today J and I went to church and then met with the priest to start our marriage prep. I have to call tomorrow and make reservations for a class (hopefully sooner than later). When we got home we decided to address Save-The-Dates. My address list is *almost* complete, I am missing a handful of addresses. We addressed 58 envelopes (only 2 oopses) and I need to go to Staples tomorrow to buy 40 more envelopes. I don't know what happened to my small guest list...but I guess it is great that so many people will be able to share our special day. Then we started packing up some boxes of books (I think we are up to 15 boxes) and labeling them with contents and intended room. We need to order more boxes because we ran out and there are still MORE books. We are going to spend over $1000 simply on bookshelves....I can feel it. This stuff will make the trip with us over February break when we close on the house.

Tomorrow will be an interesting day at work. Mondays always are. We start off the day with science class at 8 a.m. which could be a good thing or a bad thing. Hopefully the kids are in positive space!

Where did the weekend go?? So I didn't post last week because things at school are CRAZY! I am trying so hard to remain patient but the kids are really pushing their luck. Most of my students dropped from our highest behavior level and weren't able to participate in an incentive which sent the whole week spinning.

Saturday J and I went and looked at tuxes. I never realized how expensive it would be to rent a tux. I have this horrible guilt every time I ask someone in our wedding party to spend money. But we picked out the tuxes that everyone will wear and J got measured for his. Saturday night we got together with friends of ours. It was good to get together with grown ups, and since the guy is J's best man, it's nice to spend time with him. After a nice evening of dinner and conversation I didn't even complain about not getting to bed until almost 1 a.m.!

So we have big news that I have been keeping to myself for fear of it falling through, but I think we are at a point now where it is ok to say it- we are buying a house! I am very excited about the idea of owning our own house, having our own space and calling it "ours". The house is in Ohio, which many of my family, friends and co-workers are still digesting. It is a time in our lives right now where J and I feel like we are flexible and that change might be the best thing. He has been here for almost 9 years and it will be nice for him to spend some time with his mom, dad, grandparents, brother and niece. I am so excited about being an auntie. When we were in Ohio for Christmas J and I took Miss P to the mall and out for lunch. She is 19 months old, and the most adorable thing ever. I am really looking forward to trips to the zoo, mall, aquarium, park and sleepovers when she is a bit older. I want to spoil her rotten!!!

I want to put up pictures of the house. It's beautiful, and moreover it's ours, but there is some dreadful wallpaper that needs to come down. J and I talked and we decided that after all my years of community service and rebuilding together I am going to attempt to take the wallpaper down in the bathroom. That way if it goes terribly wrong, it isn't a big room that I've ruined. Pictures will definitely come later, for now I have to get back to the children. The bell is about to ring, one more period stands between me and a night of quarterly report editing and the gym!

Happy Day Off!

This weekend was great. J and I spend a bunch of time just enjoying each others company. We went to the movies Friday and saw The Lovely Bones. It was a really great movie. It had me captivated and on the edge of my seat. It could have been a little quicker at times, it seemed like they were really dragging pieces out, but all in all it was a really good movie! Saturday was a lazy day, we sat around listening to music, watching movies and playing video games. Yesterday was by far the best day of the weekend. We went to Providence for a little Fire & Ice and then we went to the Roger Williams Zoo. I love the zoo, and the zoo in the winter is great! There were so few people there, at times it was like my own personal zoo. It was such a great day! Today was a cleaning, getting work done kind of day, a great three day weekend by any standard!

The third quarter starts tomorrow. Things are going to be crazy at work, I can just feel it. There are so many things that are up in the air, changing and new this quarter. I keep telling myself that we are halfway through the year! Hopefully this week goes well...keep your fingers crossed!!

Starting Off the Week

I can't believe that the weekend went so quickly. We kept ourselves very busy this weekend, which was good because looking back we did a lot, but it made the weekend fly by and now Monday is here again. Saturday J and I went to Natick and spent some time at the mall. There are good sales after Christmas, so we picked up a few things from our favorite stores. Then we went to The Container Store which is such a fun store to walk around and plan for "someday". We stopped by Bed, Bath & Beyond and did a few updates to the registry. Finally we ended up at The Melting Pot. If you've never been, you should go, but save your pennies because it isn't cheap! We had such a nice time, I'm so glad we went.

Sunday we went and picked up envelopes and pens to start addressing envelopes for Save The Dates. Then we met up with a friend and had lunch at P.F. Chang's. We tried to go bowling but I was carded (apparently you have to be 21 to bowl on Sunday afternoon) and then there was going to be a long wait for a lane so we walked around and window shopped. J got bored so we went to Toys R Us and got a present for Peyton and then went to the Museum of Bad Art. It was a pretty productive day, and a pretty productive weekend overall. The gym was not in our plans, and we didn't end up going at all.

This week should be busy. Things at work will be hectic because it is then end of the second quarter and quarterly reports and grades are due by the middle of next week. Another teacher and I are starting a poetry class during lunch tomorrow. I actually have more students interested than I thought I would. I hope it goes well, I like working with this particular teacher, so I am planning on this being a success! I just found out one of my students has bacterial pneumonia, which is highly contagious. Cross your fingers that she didn't leave her contagions behind!